Tuesday, January 24, 2012

Poker And Baseball

When you think of the game of baseball, you think of 9 men on a field of play with a common goal. Major league players have dedicated their lives to this pursuit and, at least in most cases, are among the best athletes in the world. There is another game with similarities to baseball, and that is the game of poker. While you may not think that a card game is similar to America's national pastime, take a look at some of the reasons below.

First, contrary to the common sight of a poker player in many card rooms, poker players have to be in peak mental and even physical conditioning to handle the long hours at a poker table. Take a look at pokerlistings and other sites that report on players. Long gone are the days of out of shape players dominating the game. Now you have players that are not just focused in mine, but also take care of themselves physically. Of course, just like baseball, you do have a few players could use some extra work in the gym.

Also, just like baseball, you typically have nine men at the table all focused on a common goal. Granted that baseball is a team sport and the nine men are working together, but they all have a goal and that is to win. Poker players are no different in their goals, they are just going about it a bit differently as the game is an individual game with a few rare exceptions.

Poker also involves a great amount of strategy much like baseball. Each situation in poker is unique and requires that players be one their toes and alert as to the changing conditions. Poker players not only play the game, but at the same time act as their own manager. They scout out the players, watch for any weaknesses during the game, and then make moves and adjust their play to take advantage of the current situation.

It is obvious that poker will never overtake baseball as the national pastime, but the game is quickly rising to be a major hobby for many players. If you look at a list of online poker games and sites, you can see just how easy it is for a player to get involved. Also, once someone gets around 40, Jamie Moyer and Julio Franco being obvious exceptions, you can continue playing poker. So if you don't already play, check it out. You may just find your newest hobby.